Ignatius of Antioch Series

St. Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to Polycarp—the very last, and the shortest, of the seven written and sent since his arrest in Antioch—is not meant to tell him things he does not already know.

At the heart of the Docetist denial is horror at the prospect of God—a purely spiritual being, untouched by the material world in any way—actually becoming one of us.

St. Ignatius of Antioch saw the Judaizers as a complete rejection of Jesus Christ.

There is no doubt whatsoever regarding St. Ignatius of Antioch’s great love and esteem for the city of Rome, or, more specifically, the Church of Rome.

What else is martyrdom but an outward expression of an inward reality implicit in the act of becoming a Christian?

If the Office of Unity, symbolized by a sitting bishop, is necessary to the maintenance of faith, then holiness of life is the reason for it.

For all the outward hostility of the pagan world to the Church, it is as nothing compared to the threat from within. 

According to St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop occupies a seat of governance no less authoritative than that of God Himself.

St. Ignatius of Antioch implores the good Christians of Magnesia not “to be led astray by wrong views or by outmoded tales that count for nothing.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch sounds the great theme of unity, especially around the person of the bishop, the visible sign of God’s presence and power in this world.

Where in the correspondence of St. Ignatius of Antioch can one find an ideal point of entry?

Of the seven letters of St. Ignatius, all written in great haste along the way from Antioch to Rome, the first in the order of importance, as well as the longest, was the letter sent to the Ephesians.

The life of St. Ignatius of Antioch was connected to other great figures in the early Church, not least being St. John the Evangelist.

It was not in defense of any sort of abstract principle that drove St. Ignatius of Antioch to such an extremity as to choose death, despising even the most cruel and pitiless of its torments.

St. Ignatius of Antioch’s life, writings, and death all point us to the purpose of life: to be converted to Christ.